The Unlucky Twenty
by ApexPomskies
Summary: The Ministry of Magic is hosting a gala to impress American Ministry employees during their trip to the UK. Unfortunately for Hermione and her co-workers and friends, the heroes of the Final Battle are supposed to learn about the Americans as well as take dance lessons to prepare for the party. Needless to say, they're not excited. Follow the lessons up to the gala. Drama ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I am an assistant teacher for a Social Dance Class at my University. That said, I recently read a fic where someone had a dance class with our favorite couple - Dramione - and it gave me far too many ideas. What I need to know is if you lot want a lot of explanation in the dance lessons or not. So please review and let me know. I have the first three chapters written and I'll post those right away. Afterwards, let me know if you want more information in the lessons or more about how Hermione feels during the lessons. I can try and alter the chapters to be based on what y'all want to read!**

**That said, here's the sort of prologue. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Hermione looked up to find the Head of her department at the Ministry standing in the doorway. Mr. Muller's arms were crossed over his chest and he looked extremely put out – something that never happened when he was looking at the five-year employee and Deputy Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Muller and Granger were both cooperative personnel as well as friends outside of work, so Hermione couldn't think of the last time he had been upset with her.

"Jackson." She greeted gently, nodding to him. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, but it's hardly something you would expect to go wrong in our department." He sighed, settling into one of the two chairs across the desk from her own. "You have undoubtedly heard about the gala the Ministry is throwing?" Jackson waited until she nodded in confirmation before continuing. "Then you obviously know how serious the Minister is about impressing the foreign dignitaries from America."

"I don't see what the problem with that is.." Hermione began slowly, tilting her head to the side in question.

"Yes, well, the problem isn't whether or not we should want to impress them. It's that the Minister has now decided that our most _famous_ employees will be the examples." Jackson said, frowning darkly. "That means that you, Miss Granger, along with our other well known war heroes will be taken away from your positions for a time."

"You're joking right?" She gasped, sitting up straighter. "If anyone outside the Ministry finds out, they could do Merlin knows what and we would be down a vast number of employees to stop whatever happens."

"Exactly." Muller grumbled, rolling his eyes. "And you won't believe what you'll be taken off to do."

Across the Ministry and up a few floors, the Aurors who had been involved in the Final Battle at Hogwarts had been called into the briefing room and were now gathered around.

"Hey," Harry greeted his long-time best friend and his fiancee and he sat down between them. Leaning to his left, he gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek before turning to face her brother. "What's this meeting for, exactly?"

"You mean you don't know?" A voice from across the table asked in surprise. Harry turned to see Malfoy sitting across the way with a raised eyebrow.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Ron asked, matching the ex-Slytherin's expression.

Over the years, the three males had gotten over their problems, more or less. Draco worked with Potions in the lower levels of the Ministry, inventing new ones or testing suggestions for certain problems. Often times, this involved working with the Aurors. When your life started to depend on your old rival, you tended to learn to get over your problems.

"Like I've a clue." Draco shrugged in return. "I just got an owl and headed upstairs."

The door opened and a furious, bristling Hermione Granger made her way in.

"Hermione-?"

"What-?"

Everyone was speaking at once, even the other Aurors seated towards the back of the room. After a few moments, Hermione threw down the folder she was holding with such force that they quieted immediately.

"Alright." She began, not wanting to sit down for fear she would simply fidget incessantly. "Here's the deal. The Ministry is throwing that bloody gala," Hermione noted the surprised look on Ginny's face as the elder girl denounced the party Ginny was so looking forward to, "in a month. As the Minister desires that we make a good impression on the Americans, we are required to.. Let me rephrase that. Those of us who were considered heroes of the war are required to take leaves of absence from work to.. to take dance classes."

Shouts of outrage rang out from everyone in the room – except, perhaps, the youngest Weasley, who looked rather entertained. What was the most curious to everyone, it seemed, was that Draco was included in this ridiculous plan. In the end, he had ignored his father's wishes and chose for himself – everyone had to grow up some time, right? - and had started to send them hints about the moves the Death Eaters would make. The strangest part of it all was that Hermione was the first to believe he had changed.

"You've got to be joking." Malfoy's voice reached her ears above the others and she turned to find him staring at her with unamused amazement.

"You've no idea how much I wish I were joking." She retaliated, finally sinking into the chair at the head of the table. "They asked me to tell you lot for fear that you would throw a large fit. Mind, I agree that you should. It won't stop the inevitable, however."

"I don't see why we have to take off work for this." Harry said finally, frowning darkly and crossing his arms over his chest in silent protest. Ginny's hand moved to rest on his arm, clearly hoping to calm him. He passed her an apologetic look before turning back to Hermione. "Why can't we work as well?"

"Unfortunately," She sighed heavily, opening the folder in front of her, "there are an obscene number of dances we're to learn. Besides that, we are to learn everything we can about the foreign dignitaries so we can appear knowledgable and so that we are able to walk up to them, greet them, and dance with them."

"This sounds like a bloody class." One of the Aurors from the back of the room griped.

"It is." Hermione replied darkly. "Somehow, the Ministry has coerced all of the heroes of the Final Battle to join us. Neville, Luna, everyone. To take tests and go to dance practice and hate life."

"You're oddly against the Ministry for a Deputy Head of Department." Draco noted lightly, attempting to lighten the mood in whatever small way he could.

"Oh, absolutely." She nodded seriously, staring at the folder in front of her. "To make it worse, we start as soon as the rest of us arrive." She added, gesturing to the empty seats around them. "The unlucky twenty as I've decided to call us."

"Fitting." A voice behind her commented. They all turned to see Neville leading the rest of the members of the sad little club into the briefing room.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour later, the Twenty ex-Hogwarts students had gone through all of the files, and were debating how they would organize this "class" of theirs.

"I figure we could split it up and each of us could do a presentation on one of them." Hermione suggested, earning many groans from the others. "What?" She asked, looking between them.

"It sounds like a lot of work, 'Mione." Ron grumbled, Neville nodding alongside him.

"It's a lot less work to focus on one each then take notes on the others, rather than reading every single note in the files." Malfoy replied sharply, avoiding eye contact with Hermione. They never enjoyed the times when their minds were on the same track.

"Makes sense," Luna mused absently. Hermione smiled at the blonde in thanks.

After they had finally gotten everyone to agree to the game plan, Hermione checked the time and gasped. "We were meant to leave for dance class five minutes ago." She stood, collecting the papers as she spoke.

"You're starting to sound like Hogwarts Hermione, you know." Harry pointed out with a half-smile.

"Well it _is_ a class." She joked with a grin before turning and heading out.

The 'classroom' was down several floors, in a large room that appeared to be an old training room for some sort of Ministry employees. _Hit Wizards, perhaps? _Hermione mused absently. Shaking off her apparent need for knowledge, Hermione looked around and was quite frustrated to find that an entire wall of the large room was made up of mirrors. Undoubtedly, this was because most dance studios were built this way. But that didn't mean that Hermione wanted to watch herself failing miserably in full-body mirrors all day.

"Oh, brilliant." Neville murmured, staring at the mirrors as well, his face tinted red. Hermione looked at him sympathetically and he shrugged.

"Who's teaching us?" Ginny questioned, likely to herself.

"Haven't the foggiest." Harry replied, watching as Ron embraced his inner child and tested the slipperiness of the floor. "Try not to fall and break something, Ron." Harry warned, voice lacking amusement. Ron looked up as his face turned a bright red to challenge the shade of his hair.

One of the girls who had followed Neville into the meeting, one Hannah Abbott, grinned at Ron and walked over to chat with him. Hermione was proud to say that she had no tint of jealousy, nor any annoyance at Hannah's apparent interest in Ronald. After being chosen to take over the Deputy Head position for her department, Hermione had dropped that silly crush. She had far better things to worry about than the boyish problems of her friend.

The door to the studio opened and a woman of average height walked in, smiling at them. "Sorry I'm late," She began, setting her bag down in a corner before turning to face them, "My name is Campbell Orteil, but as I'm used to people mispronouncing my name, just call me Campbell."

Hermione passed Campbell a smile, hopefully projecting her agreement to the ordeal rather than her nerves.

"Usually," Campbell said as she walked to stand in front of the mirrors, "I will have my partner, George, with me. He had a meeting today, however, so we will just work on rhythms and the basics of our first dance style. That will be East-Coast Swing. It's the best one to start with, as it has the simplest basic movements. It also will allow you to learn how to get used to your partners quickly."

She gestured for the twenty employees-made-students to stand in front of her facing the mirrors. "I need everyone to pair off with someone they feel they can stand for the rest of the month. Every day you'll start the session with that partner, then throughout the lesson we will rotate through, and at the end you will return to your first partner to see how much you have improved. This partner will also be the person you dance with at the gala. The Minister has asked that I impress upon you the importance of dancing with the Americans and your chosen partner, rather than just with each other."

She finished and smiled at them, waiting for them to pair off. They looked between each other awkwardly. Those who were dating, engaged, or married of course chose their partner. Hannah was clinging to Ron as the others partnered up. Eventually, Hermione noted that Draco hadn't moved either. They were staring at each other across the room, neither wanting to accept that there was no one left. Finally, when Campbell cleared her throat, Draco looked down and made his way over to her.

She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, shaking off the anxiety before opening them once more and avoiding her reflection in the mirror. She could feel the heat burning her cheeks. Campbell smiled at the lot of them and made her way to the center of the room, waiting for everyone to form a circle around her in their pairs.

The ten couples made rather odd pairs, as was only fitting for such odd circumstances.

"Alright," Campbell started, "Let's start with the rhythm of our steps. The words that go along with it are 'step, step, rock step.' Now, girls are called 'follows' and boys will be called 'leads'. Leads will most always start with their left foot unless I say otherwise. Follows will start with their right. Copy my feet." She said. "Step-" she took a step to the side, "Step-" she stepped the other way, "Rock Step." Her first foot moved behind her so she had her weight balanced on the ball of her foot before leaning forward with the other foot to even out.

Hermione did the steps with everyone else as Campbell repeated the words and the motions. Campbell was eyeing Draco and Hermione, however, making the twenty-three year old frown.

"Swing – East-Coast Swing, anyways – requires that you allow some bounce into your step. Don't be so stiff," Campbell told the two of them, watching as they both stood up straighter under her gaze. Draco let out a huff Hermione was quite sure no-one else heard. "Just stand facing your partners and bounce on the beats. One-two. One-two. She had them go through the motions several times before adding, "Now take your partner in your arms and do the same thing."

Hermione froze and stared at Draco with wide eyes, showing her protest. "Come on, you two." Campbell called, eyeing them once more. Frowning, Hermione took a step closer, lifting her hands to allow him room to move in and take the stance that was required.

He gave her an appraising glance before stepping towards her, his left foot between hers and his right on the outside of her left. His motion was smooth, his left hand taking her right and his other hand sliding around her back to rest on her shoulder blade. Hermione's breath hitched as he looked down at her from far closer than he had ever been to her before.

"Right," Campbell said, "But allow your clasped hands to hang lower, so the entire stance is very relaxed and loose."

Draco lowered their hand so that hers rested lightly in his upward-facing one.

"Now, go through the steps we mentioned before. Step. Step. Rock Step." Campbell repeated the steps over and over until the couples felt more comfortable with it. Ron looked like he would rather be anywhere than there – though Hannah was clearly enjoying herself. Hermione dared not look at Draco's face, for fear that he would be sneering at her – or worse, ignoring her completely and just going through the motions.

After a short while, Campbell explained that their steps could rotate if they so chose. Waving her wand, she conjured a relatively slow bit of swing music and let them experiment with keeping their movements on the beat. After a while, though, she stopped them.

"Let's work on turns next. Leads, rotate to the next person."

Hermione let out a soft sigh of relief after Draco had moved to partner with Luna. She gave him a bright smile, and Hermione nearly smiled as well. Luna was always so forgiving and kind. Harry walked up to her, patting her on the back in greeting.

"Now, Outside turns are defined as the kind of turns where the follow turns away from the lead. Inside turns, the follow turns towards the lead. Let's start with an outside turn." Campbell asked the pairs to get back into the closed, hand-holding position from before. "On the first step, the lead should life their hand, and the follow should take a step away from the lead, under his arm. On the second step, follow through, and the lead will stay in place, doing the steps from before. Then, for the Rock Step, you both step away from each other and then towards each other once more."

The pairs tested out her instructions a few times. Hermione found that she wasn't quite getting it right, and became more and more frustrated.

"Keep tension in your hands for this type of turn. The follow shouldn't move until the lead asks her to. If you keep tension, when the lead takes a step backwards, the follow should walk towards him and return to the first position and continue with the original steps."

Campbell conjured up music again, letting them practice the turn and improvise their own steps. After a time, she asked them to stop and return to their first partner.

"We'll spend the last few minutes of each class dancing to a song with our first partners." Campbell explained, starting the music again. "Try starting on your own this time. Remember, girls, don't do anything unless the guy tells you to with his movements."

Draco looked at Hermione seriously again as he offered his hand. She took it lightly – too lightly for his liking apparently, for he gripped it more firmly and pulled her into the closed starting position. Her shoulder blade felt like it was tingling wherever his hand rested. He sent her into a turn, and Hermione couldn't fail to notice how well he led her into the turn. She wasn't questioning if he wanted her to move, like she had been with Harry. When he sent her spinning in the opposite direction – what Hermione assumed was the inside turn Campbell had mentioned before – she followed without question.

"Very good!" Campbell said with surprise, making Hermione jump and turn her head to look at their teacher. "Have you done this dance before, Mr. Malfoy?" She questioned.

"Yes, my parents had me learn all sorts of things due to their wanting to host parties all the time." Draco said after slowing the pair to a stop. He had dropped her hand while he spoke, but his right hand remained her her back. Hermione doubted she would have noticed were it not for the fact that he started tapping his fingers along her spine. A shiver ran through her and she directed her gaze at the hand resting on his shoulder rather than Campbell or Draco himself.

"Alright, well that will be it for today. Try to avoid any shoes that have a lot of traction – it makes it harder to turn during the dances. That said, you're all free to go and I will do a demonstration with George tomorrow of each of the turns and such you will know before we move on to the next type of dance."

Hermione felt frozen, unsure what she was supposed to do about the fact that Draco was still basically holding her. She glanced up to find him looking at her with an unreadable expression before sliding his hand off of her back and letting it fall to his side. Averting her gaze, she removed her hand, made her way to the wall where she had set the folder and her bag, and left the room before anyone else had known she was leaving.

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**A/N: There we go. First chapter with dance lessons involved. Does it make any sense? Next chapter I'll include YouTube videos for the more difficult to understand motions. Some may not make a lot of sense with just words, you know? Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. Reviews make me want to post more quickly!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Video links for the turns in this chapter, if you're interested:**

watch?v=cjQIwvnfI3Q

watch?v=w60JbFPKxX0

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The next day, Hermione couldn't look at Draco without wanting to hide. Why was it that she could follow what he led so easily, without even having to think? Maybe it was just the first day and the stress of everything was getting to her. Regardless, she made sure to sit on the opposite end from him at the table during their review of the foreign dignitaries. They had each chosen someone to study up on and create a presentation on, as Hermione had suggested the day before.

Everyone seemed to be working hard on their reading, which made Hermione happy. At least she wouldn't end up having to go back and read up on the people others didn't want to work hard enough to learn about.

Even as she turned back to her page, her eyes flicked over to Malfoy, who was taking notes on his assigned personality, a Mr. James Oscar. She still had a hard time grasping that Draco already knew all of the dances they were going to learn. She could probably learn the dances faster with him just randomly throwing moves at her and hoping she would follow them. Something told her that if anyone could give her random moves and she would be able to follow, it would be him.

That idea stopped her as she wrote a note about Olivia Dean, the Head of the American Ministry's Law Enforcement. Shaking it off, she pushed her way through the rest of their hour before collecting her things and following the others down to the dance studio.

Much like the day before, they were a good ten or fifteen minutes early, so Hermione set down her things and tucked her legs under her and opened her book to the bookmarked page. The others followed suit. It wasn't until Campbell walked in and Hermione looked up that she realized Draco had settled next to her, still working on his profile for Mr. Oscar. Marking her page once more, she cleared her throat and stood, watching who she assumed to be George, Campbell's partner. Hermione could feel Draco walking behind her, but said nothing and just tried to just walk over to the circle normally.

"Afternoon." Campbell greeted them brightly. Hermione nearly groaned. "Today, we're going to start off with some exercises to help you understand the roles of each person in the pairs. Imagine that the girls are asteroids floating throughout space, and the guys have to protect the asteroids. If he pushes you in one direction," She began, allowing George to tap her lightly, sending her off in Luna's direction, "you must continue in that direction until he stops you and sends you somewhere else." George took her arms, absorbed her energy, and returned her in the direction she had come from. "Go for a while regularly, then when I say so, follows should close their eyes and allow their leads to take care of them."

Ginny gave Harry a warning glare, and Hermione would have laughed if she didn't feel Draco come up beside her. The hairs on the back of her neck felt like they were standing on end at his nearness.

"Go ahead and start. Do try not to hurt anyone." Campbell said, looking at certain pairs warily. Surprisingly, this didn't include Hermione and Draco.

Hermione turned to face Draco, her arms extended slightly like Campbell's had been. He nodded to her as though it would reassure her somehow before reaching out and taking hold of her forearms. He must have felt her tense up, because he met her gaze briefly before pushing her backwards lightly. Hermione didn't realize how nervous this would make her until she had started taking small steps backwards. She knew she was headed towards the mirrors, but also watched Draco as he walked alongside her.

After a while, his hand was pressing against her back and she was walking directly towards Ginny. Harry, behind her, was smirking as the two grew closer. Campbell must have been watching them, for she called out, "Follows, go ahead and close your eyes."

"Seriously?" Ginny griped loudly, but did as she was told. Hermione followed suit, though she was sure her footsteps grew smaller quickly.

Draco's arm wrapped around her stomach after only a few moments later, and her stomach flipped at the sudden contact, her breath coming in as a soft gasp. He absorbed the energy like George had before, turning Hermione as he did.

"Easy there." He said into her ear, breath on her neck, before releasing her.

She nearly opened her eyes to look at him in surprise, but kept from doing so by biting her lip. There was no need to think too much into things. Finally, Campbell called them to stop and Hermione opened her eyes to find Draco standing next to her again. She found it nearly impossible to look him in the eyes. Because it was difficult, she made a point to do it anyways.

Surprisingly, he was staring right back at her, coloring her cheeks a pretty shade of pink as she turned to look at Campbell and George. They began going over the turn from yesterday, adding on the inside turn Draco had done with Hermione the day before. Hermione had to keep a smile from her face as she watched Ron and Hannah try to add it on. Poor Hannah turned the wrong way.

"It's not nice to laugh at others." Draco said quietly, making her jump.

"I wasn't." She replied, too quickly. "I was simply thinking how cute they were."

"Sure." He nodded, clearly not believing her story. "Let's try it out. Campbell is giving us a funny look."

Hermione stepped forward to meet him halfway, going through the motions, saying them in her head. Step. Step. Rock Step. Under His Arm. Turn. Rock Step. Under Again. He Will Catch. Rock Step. She was back in his arms, feeling oddly comfortable with the movements already.

"Brilliant." Campbell noted, calling their attention once more. "Rotate partners."

This time, it was an Ex-Ravenclaw named Brian, who had been dancing with Parvati. Hermione hadn't taken note of how the man danced, but she figured she would get on fine. He greeted her brightly and she figured at least they would get along.

"Is everything going alright with Malfoy as a partner?" Brian asked under his breath, thankfully not speaking at his usual, over-the-top, voice. Hermione shrugged with a half-smile before turning back to Campbell as the woman spoke.

"As promised, George and I are going to go through some of the turns we'll spend the rest of the day learning. Tomorrow we are going to move on to another kind of swing dance."

"So quickly?" Ginny asked, eyebrows raised. Realizing she had said it aloud, she blushed and looked down.

"Yes, it is quite fast, I know. However, we only have a month to go through several kinds. The last few days of the month will be spent with your tests – as strange as they are – over the American Ministry employees, as well as reviewing all of the dances with your first partner. A sort of... dance day, if you will."

Hermione glanced at Draco, wondering if by then she would feel less awkward with everything. Or would she feel even more embarrassed and end up stepping all over his feet? She could see both being likely, unfortunately.

The students sat in their circle while Campbell and George went through a few more turns and tricks, explaining them as they went along.

"You don't need to feel like you have to learn all of these. Pick a few with your partner and try them out." She said finally, waving her hands at them in a 'get to it' gesture.

"Alright, well, the simplest of the ones she showed us was the lead's turn – the waist-slide, she called it. Want to try that one?" Brian suggested. "We can work our way up from there."

Nodding, Hermione stepped into his arms, noting immediately how cold his hands were – a stark difference from Malfoy's. She did her best to ignore that, though. The turn Brian was referring to was one where the lead turned in, towards the follow's arm, released her hand so that it slid around his back as he turned, and then he ended up facing her and catching the hand again.

Hermione gave Brian a smile and he went through the motions of the follow's outside turn so Hermione was facing him, her right hand connected to his. Instead of pulling her back with an inside turn, however, he turned in, her arm wrapping around him as she walked back to where she had started. Watching him, she waited until he got to where she had been standing before, and waited for him to start the Rock Step so she could do so as well. Campbell had been very wordy about the follow waiting for the lead.

The problem wasn't that they hadn't done it right. They had. Brian was grinning, looking pleased with their pairing. Hermione, though she smiled back, couldn't help but note how very awkward she felt dancing with him. It wasn't that Brian wasn't very good at it – he was decent, of course – but it just didn't feel right. Ignoring it, they moved on to the next motion.

The lead had another option for a turn, apparently. Brian lifted his hand but keeping it closer to himself rather than Hermione so she wouldn't think she was supposed to turn. He stepped through, under his arm, and they traded places again, ending with another Rock Step.

Campbell called for them to rotate and Hermione nearly frowned when she saw Ron walking towards her. The poor guy had clearly been having trouble with remembering the Rock Step at the end of his motions. He gave her a sheepish smile as he stepped up to her and offered a hand.

"Which turn do you want to work on?" She asked, falling into place next to him.

"Well, I'm not really very good at any of them." He admitted after a moment. "You pick."

"Let's do your waist-slide turn." Hermione suggested. Brian had caught onto that one right quick and she figured Ron could as well. He nodded and started sending her out for her first turn.

Hermione wasn't sure, at first, what felt so wrong about dancing with him. It finally hit her, though, when he led the first Rock Step. His grip on her hand was really strong, like his hand had been on her back before they started.

"Ron, don't hold on so tight. I'll follow whatever you lead, but you don't need to grip my hand so hard. It makes it harder to turn when you won't let my hand rotate."

He frowned but loosened his hold on her. Hermione hadn't intended to come off as harsh – she just wanted to help. It was like first year all over again, she mused. After that, everything went downhill. He was so focused on her comment, apparently, that he kept messing up everything else as well. Somehow, he turned the wrong way in the waist-slide, ending up outside her arm rather than wrapped in it. Finally, Hermione was so frustrated she was sure she was pulling an annoyed face.

"Let's go back to our original partners, now." Campbell's voice rang out. Hermione couldn't even feel bad about the tension that left her body in a relieved sigh once Ron had moved back to Hannah. "I'm going to turn on a song and let you all go after it. Test out the turns we've given you. If you feel like trying to make up something go ahead." Her eyes drifted to Hermione and Draco before she flicked her wand and let the music spread through the studio.

The song was a bit faster than the one from the previous day, so Hermione hoped she didn't hold his shoulder too tightly each time he caught her. After a while, she heard herself laugh at his bouncing to the beat. They were supposed to do that, sure, but he was so dramatic and sarcastic about it that she couldn't keep it together. When he led his way into the waist-slide, however, she quieted quickly. The old Draco from Hogwarts would have thrown a fit if Hermione's hand had drifted around his torso and back. Then again, old Draco wouldn't have held her hand nonetheless danced with her.

He caught her back once more, watching her closely. He led her into the first follow's turn they had learned, but he switched hands at the end of the turn so his right hand was holding hers. He led her into an outside turn so she was moving away from him. Hermione gave him a confused glance, feeling like Draco was leading her into a follow's version of the waist-slide. However, his right hand came up to her shoulder and his left hand caught hers. Hermione wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she could feel his chest against her back, and his hands were holding both of hers.

Hermione froze and turned to look at him, only to find that her nose was practically brushing his cheek. Her eyes widened and she turned away, feeling more than hearing him chuckle.

"Calm down. This is one of the moves she showed us, remember? She called it Shadow or Sweetheart." He reminded her. The word 'sweetheart' made her cheeks redden more than they had already. "But remember to keep your feet moving. We'll both go forward and back together."

Hermione nodded stiffly, moving forward as he leaned towards her, instinctively stepping with her right foot as he moved with his left. When they switched feet, his right foot was close behind her left. He pushed her into a forward rock step before lifting his left hand to ask her to spin back the way she had come. Taking both of her hands again, he led them into the starter steps of Step, Step, Rock Step, before turning her through an inside turn with his left hand so that they ended up with his arms wrapped around her middle to meet where their hands clasped.

The entire left side of her body was lined up with his side and she heard him start explaining the turn he had just led her through. "This is called Cuddles – ironic, no? To get out of it, you just go backwards like you did before." He lifted his left hand again until she spun out to face him with their hands connected again, ending the step with the required Rock Step. "Try it again."

His left hand lifted on the first step, she turned into his arm and he wrapped her up during the second step when his left hand came down in front of her. They stepped back together on the Rock Step. Like with Sweetheart, they could go forward and backwards. The music was starting to fade, she noted. Hermione wasn't sure if she was glad or disappointed. He spun her back out and they did a few of the basic steps.

"Okay," Draco said, also catching the ending of the song, "Come back into cuddles. Then I'm going to let go with my right hand, you'll turn towards me and hold onto my shoulder. Don't panic when I dip you."

"What?!" Hermione asked, practically stopping in her tracks. Her Rock Step was a total mess as she looked down and tried to get back on track.

"Just give it a try. I won't drop you."

"How do I know you won't?" She returned sharply, eyebrows raised.

"You're going to make us miss the end. Just go for it." His eyes looked between both of hers, clearly asking her to trust him. She nodded slightly and allowed him to turn her once more. She spun into him, felt his right hand trail around her side as she turned to face him, and held onto his shoulder as he leaned to the left. As if they had done it a hundred times, he rotated so his top half was over hers and she was leaning on one leg, doing whatever she could to keep a handle on the back of his shoulder.

She looked up at him as the music faded away completely, realizing they had done it with excellent timing. His eyes met hers and he smiled – the first time she had seen it during their lessons. He lifted her back to an upright position and as soon as she stepped away his face was back to its normal, blank expression.


End file.
